c. 1870
Brigham Young (June 1, 1801 – August 29, 1877) was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until his death in 1877. He founded Salt Lake City and he served as the first governor of the Utah Territory. Young also led the foundings of the precursors to the University of Utah and Brigham Young University.
Young was a polygamist, marrying a total of 55 wives, 54 of them after he converted to Mormonism.[1] The policy was difficult for many in the church. Young stated that upon being taught about plural marriage, "It was the first time in my life that I desired the grave."[2] By the time of his death, Young had 56 children by 16 of his wives; 46 of his children reached adulthood.[3]
In 1902, 25 years after Young's death, The New York Times established that Young's direct descendants numbered more than 1,000.[4]
In 2016 Young was estimated to have around 30,000 descendants.[5]
- ^ Johnson, Jeffrey Odgen (Fall 1987), "Determining and Defining 'Wife' — The Brigham Young Households", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 20 (3): 57–70, doi:10.2307/45225560, JSTOR 45225560, S2CID 254339939, archived from the original on 2012-05-09, retrieved 2015-04-17
- ^ "Polygamy and the Church: A History", The Mormons, People & Events, PBS, April 30, 2007, retrieved 2013-09-19
- ^ "Brigham Young Biography: Facts of Faith", Y Facts (yfacts.byu.edu), BYU, archived from the original on 2013-09-20
- ^ "Descendants of Brigham Young to Hold Annual Mass Meetings", The New York Times, 1902-06-22.
- ^ "Descendants, including General Authority, Observe Brigham Young's Birthday at His Grave Site - Church News and Events". The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 29 December 2021.